


these sketches of heaven

by thewindraiser



Series: Tumblr Prompts [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, sensual waterfalling, what is it with me and doctor suga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 12:16:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5828260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewindraiser/pseuds/thewindraiser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: “So, I found this waterfall…”</p>
<p>A beautiful waterfall, a nasty injury and a very cute doctor. All in all Daichi thinks he can take a broken leg if the upside is getting to flirt with Sugawara-san.</p>
            </blockquote>





	these sketches of heaven

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crollalanza](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crollalanza/gifts).



> This is for Carole who probably doesn't even remember sending this prompt because it's been so long. Sorry!  
> Title is from Love Never Fails by Sleeping at Last

Every summer since Daichi was nine years old he and his father pack their bags, kiss goodbye to the rest of the family and spend a couple of weeks alone in the woods that surround the town.

They set up camp, they fish and they explore. It’s the best way to get in touch with nature, says his father, every other day a man bound to a comfortable chair, in a grey office of a grey cement building that handles the finances of some of the richest people in Miyagi.

Daichi lives for those weeks, looks out of the window of his – just as grey – office to stare longingly at the blotch of green on the side of the hills and sighs, feeling much like an anime character.

He crosses another day off the calendar and goes back to work, same as every day. But not for long.

*

The sun is high in the sky and the cicadas are filling in the quiet. Daichi’s father stayed at camp to cook breakfast and Daichi is alone is his quest for wood. He turns left instead of right when he reaches the old pine tree that looks down on the entire hill and he finds himself in a place he doesn’t recognize.

He takes a small flick knife out of his utility belt and starts signing every tree he sees with an ‘X’ to make sure he knows the way back. He walks around, picks up every fallen branch he sees.

He is venturing deeper in the heart of the wood, he knows, and it’s not a safe thing to do by himself, even during the day. He is just about to turn around, get back to camp, when he hears it. Water.

He sighs in relief. Their camp is right near the riverbank, if he follows the course it’ll be easier to go back. He quickens his pace, unbothered by the weight of the branches, and follows the noise. He walks through a bush of holly, lowers his head to get past a young willow, and his mouth falls open in surprise.

One of the first lessons Daichi’s father taught him during their trips is to never have the presumption to say he knows the woods. He never really understood it until now.

It’s a waterfall.

Not a high one by any means, about 8 feet, but it takes Daichi’s breath away. Sunrays catch drops of water and rainbows paint the stale grey and azure of endless hues.

Daichi moves closer, enraptured. He steps on a rock to catch some water in his palm but moss makes the ground slip under his feet. The branches all fall down and he doesn’t even have the time to realize what’s happening before he follows.

*

After that – whatever _that_ is - there’s only flashes, a confusing puzzle of images and sounds he can’t make sense of.

His father’s face, filled with worry and horror, aged twenty years. An insisten, thundering sound like the rotor of a helicopter. His mother crying. Strangers asking him over and over again about his name, today’s date, the circumstances of his accident. Sirens. So much noise.

Then intense, bright eyes the color of copper staring into his.

And finally calm.

*

Daichi doesn’t know for how long he’s unconscious but it’s a constant beeping noise that wakes him for good. When he opens his eyes cold neon light blinds him and forces him to close them again with a grimace. He feels bone-tired, achy all over like after a productive session at the gym. It’s a dull and bearable pain and he bets drugs are to thank for that.

Somebody walks into his room, there’s a slight drag in their steps, and Daichi wills himself to open his eyes again to let them know he’s awake.

It’s a nurse. She smiles brightly at him and greets him, then scurries away, out of the room, to call someone – a doctor, he hopes. He’s not in the mood to deal with his parents yet.

Only now he notices his leg is in a cast. He groans low in his throat in exasperation.

“Suga-kun, he’s awake!”

The shrillness of the nurse’s voice makes Daichi wince.

Hurried steps near his room and the door is opened once again. Daichi tries to ask for water but he’s only halfway through the sentence when he catches sight of the doctor, and the words die in his throat.

_Holy shit_.

The light catches the man’s hair and colors it sparkling white but his youthful features make him look not a day over 25, altho logically he must be. There’s almost an elvish quality to him, the heart-shaped face, the pointy nose. But his – beautiful, full – lips curve easily in a smile when he meets Daichi’s eyes, giving him an approachable aura, atypical of doctors. _He even has dimples_ , Daichi’s brain supplies unhelpfully.

He is lovely and Daichi can’t quite remember how to speak.

The doctor approaches him, checks his vitals on the monitor, shines a light in Daichi’s eyes and even apologizes when Daichi squints.

“You gave your family a big scare, Sawamura-san.” His voice is as beautiful as the rest of him, soft and warm, a whisper as if not to disturb. Daichi clears his throat, feeling awkward and caught off guard.

“C-call me Daichi,” he offers, unprompted.

The doctor’s eyes crinkle at the corners and he gives a small nod.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Daichi-san. I’m Sugawara Koushi, but you can call me Suga if you’d like, everyone does.”

Daichi would like very much but doubts he should. Better keep his distance and kill this weird attraction thing before it can bloom into something seriously inappropriate.

 Sugawara-san leans down toward him and pulls at the neckline of Daichi’s hospital gown, making Daichi jump in nerves and unknowingly proving his point. A jolt of pain stabs him in the side.

“I need to auscultate your heart and lungs, Daichi-san. If you could sit still, please?”

Daichi nods briskly and apologizes. He just made a complete fool of himself in front of an insanely attractive man who is incidentally also responsible for his health right now, all in under three seconds. Great. He swallows heavily and tries to relax, let sensei do his job.

Sugawara-san presses the end of the stethoscope on Daichi’s chest and his fingertips skim Daichi’s skin. It’s barely a graze but Daichi’s heart speeds up all the same. Sugawara-san frowns and looks up at him, a question in his eyes, and Daichi knows he is blushing like a schoolgirl. He wishes this mattress would just swallow him whole.

He squirms under that weirdly hypnotic gaze but for some reason Sugawara-san lets it go and moves to listen to his lungs. While he is busy Daichi chances another look at him and notices a faint drop of color on his cheeks.

He needs a diversion, anything to lighten the mood and brush away the familiar heat he feels low in his stomach.

“What happened to me?”

Sugawara-san adjusts the stethoscope around his neck and looks at him curiously. “The nurse didn’t say?”

“No she just…she looked at me and then went to call you.”

A corner of Sugawara-san’s mouth twitches upward in clear amusement. “Well she sure took my ‘’call as soon as he wakes’’ literally. Anyway, you fell during-” he stops abruptly and his eyes turn intense and searching again. “You fell. I won’t say more, you might remember on your own soon. You have a concussion and your right leg is broken in two points. You also cracked a rib and have some more bruises on your side.”

Daichi curses under his breath. It sounds bad put this way, and he’s never been the type of man who likes to be still for long amounts of time. With a broken leg he won’t be able to do much of anything. His hands clench into fists and even this much movement causes his body to ache.

Sugawara-san must notice his discomfort because he nudges Daichi to get him to drink something, holds the glass of water for him, then helps him get comfortable on the bed, and even fluffs the pillows for him.

“I know it’s frustrating, Daichi-san, but with a broken leg you can’t speed up the healing process. And a concussion too is a serious matter.” He puts a tentative hand on Daichi’s arm. “It’ll take some patience, but if you let your body heal, if you give yourself some time there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do the things you did before.”

Maybe he tells this to every patient he has, maybe it’s just platitudes but he sounds so sincere and earnest as he speaks, encouraging but not patronising, that Daichi can’t help but believe him. He relaxes under that touch and lets those words wash over him.

“We’ll discuss this in more detail later, you should rest now.”

And only then Daichi realizes how tired he is. He meets Sugawara-san’s eyes once again – they’re the color of copper – and for a moment he feels the impulse to ask him to stay. It’s a stupid impulse and sleep comes, blissfully, before he can think too much about it.

*

In the following days Sugawara-san and his supervisor - whose name Daichi cannot be bothered to remember - lower his dose of morphine.

He is more lucid, he can stay awake for longer and answer questions more promptly but it _hurts_. So bloody much. The pain in his leg gets unbearable sometimes and his cast itches like crazy. He can’t turn around much and has to be careful when he sits up because of his bruised ribs, and his head…His head pounds constantly and he’s taken the habit of talking to people with his eyes closed. Unless those people are Sugawara-san.

That pretty face, those beautiful hips swaying sensually with each step are the only joys Daichi experiences these days.

He also starts having weird dreams.

Water.

Water falling from the skies but it’s not rain, more like a tsunami, a wall of water coming from the clouds. It makes even less sense as he tries to word it, but it pulls him under, closes in around him as he drowns. When he wakes it’s always in a panick, and covered in sweat.

But not all his dreams are quite this dramatic.

Other times the water is a cascade, a beautiful waterfall come out of a fairytale, with green all around and a figure bathing underneath. Lithe and pale. Blinding. Daichi knows who it is without having to look upon that face.

These kind of dreams, he dreads them even more than the others. Sometimes he can’t even bring himself to look Sugawara-san in the eyes for the shame.

*

His orthopedic surgeon puts _screws_ in Daichi’s leg and advises him to be serious about rehabilitation if he wants to regain full mobility of the limb. Daichi was never one to do things half-assedly but he can’t deny the heavy weight of dejection he feels in his chest.

As the doctor talks, confuses him and his parents’ brain with a thousand complicated terms, Sugawara-san stands by his side, translates in human language the most obscure words and dissects complicated procedures so that they can understand. Before he leaves he squeezes Daichi’s shoulder comfortingly.

His hand is warm.

*

A knock on his door wakes Daichi from a restless sleep. He takes a moment to remember where he is – no waterfalls, no naked doctors bathing before his eyes. It’s a moment too long because whoever is on the other side knocks again, more insistently.

“Come in,” he croaks.

He expects to see his parents or maybe a nurse but it’s Sugawara-san’s smile that greets him. He is not wearing his white coat but only every day clothes, a crisp blue shirt and dark pants that, Daichi tries and fails not to notice, hug his wondrous hips like a dream.

He looks even younger like this and a little shy, making his way slowly to Daichi’s bed as if not sure he should be here.

“Hi,” he says and it’s enough to make Daichi’s heart skip a beat.

“Hey…”

“How are you feeling, Daichi-san?”

_Better already_ , Daichi thinks to himself but clears his throat and nods in what he hopes is a convincing manner. “I’m great.”

He sounds like a tool.

Sugawara-san looks at him knowingly and raises a eyebrow. “You’re great,” he deadpans, “so no pounding headache, an itching leg or overwhelming feelings of boredom?”

Ok so there’s that. Daichi makes to deny everything, save face, but then he notices a long package in Sugawara-san’s hand. He looks pointedly at it and Sugawara-san blushes, twirls it around his fingers.

“This, um, this is for you actually.”

Daichi’s eyes widen and he unconsciously sits up straight in his bed. Curiosity and a weird sense of excitement make his body buzz with restless energy.

“It’s just a silly thing, b-but i broke my arm when i was in middle school and i remember how it used to itch in the cast so i thought it’d be a good thing for you to have.”

Sugawara-san says it all in one breath and thrusts the package in Daichi’s hands. His cheeks are now a bright crimson and he keeps shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Daichi has no problem to admit he finds it endearingly charming.

He opens his present slowly, careful not to tear the paper and pulls out a thin back scratcher shaped like a hand, orange and with little black drawings of crow chicks on. Daichi runs a hand on it and laughs, amused and more than a little touched. It’s a weird present, sure, but he’d thought about asking his mother to get him one for days and always ended up forgetting about it.

“Thank you, Sugawara-san.”

At once Sugawara-san seems to relax, the line of his shoulders drops a little and his mouth curves into a relieved, if small, smile.

“I know it might look like a weird gift, maybe even a little inappropriate, but it’s a saving grace to have with a limb in a cast.”

Daichi nods and thanks him again. Silence falls between them but it’s comfortable, and neither of them seems to be able to stop smiling. Daichi is sure he must look like a fool right now but Sugawara-san went out of his way to get him a present and he can feel the bubbling of hope, a _but what if_ , grow and flutter around in his chest.

A nurse walking in interrupts their moment and they both jump, startled. Daichi looks down at his present, tries not to meet the nurse’s eyes. She will know, just one look at him will be enough for her to _know_.

She greets them both cheerfully and leaves Daichi’s lunch on the bed tray. Daichi can’t suppress a wince of disgust. He longs for his mother’s meals, for her udon and her ramen…

“Suga-kun, i thought today was your day off?”

Daichi catches the nervous glance Sugawara-san throws him and frowns, eats his food in utmost silence so he can listen.

“It was – it is – but i, um, i thought i’d come check on my patients anyway…”

The nurse looks between the two of them and smirks. “Your dedication to your work is admirable, sensei.” Then with one last wink at Daichi she leaves.

It’s enough for all of Daichi’s doubts to disappear. He gestures to the chair near his bed, “Would you mind…keeping me some company?”

Sugawara-san seems to think about it for a while, fiddles with the hem of his shirt and looks nervously around the room, then he gives a quick nod and sits.

It only takes Daichi offering him his jello to break the ice and suddenly they enter an animated debate about it. Jello: a delicious sweet or a jest of nature, proof that humanity has gone too far?

Then somehow they end up talking about volley – because Daichi always ends up talking about volley - and when Daichi finds out Suga used to play too, up till highs chool, he knows his eyes must get that ‘’manic light’’ in them Nishinoya likes to tease him about. But here’s the thing, Suga matches him, play by play, argument by argument, and starts a million more, and the insight he gives shows he might be done playing but he’s far from leaving this part of his life behind.

“Well, i was a setter after all,” Suga offers with a wink when Daichi voices his amazement. “It was my job to analyze teams and choose the best offensive options against them.”

His smile turns a little nostalgic. “I still miss it sometimes. Sometimes often, alright, but I had to quit when i got into med school, i couldn’t have handled doing both at the same time.”

“I play with a neighborhood association team. Some of my high school teammates are there too. It’s just for fun but i haven’t been able to join them in a while, work has really picked up lately and, well, i won’t be able to play anytime soon either…”

Daichi points at his cast mournfully and Suga gives him a sympathetic look. It’s enough for now, much better than his mother’s teary reassurances or his friends’ poorly hidden pity, but Daichi is not ready to deal with the consequences of his accident. Not yet. He brings the discussion back to Suga.

“Of course i already have my M.D, but I’m still doing my training - that’s why i introduced Kagure-san as my supervisor. I have two more months to go then i’ll get to declare my specialization and focus only on that.”

Daichi nods, more than a little impressed. About to finish training when he only just turned 28, and he applied straight out of high school so that means Suga graduated pretty much on time. He really is something else, and more than that Daichi can feel the passion with which Suga speaks of his job as if it were his own. It’s infectious.

He takes a good look at the man in front of him and decides, for once in his life, to take a shot. “Orthopedics is not going to be your choice, tho, is it?”

Suga shifts on the chair a little, leans back and smiles at him, intrigued. “Ah no?”

Daichi smiles back and steals a spoon of jello. It tastes as foul as he remembered but Suga laughs at his grimace so it’s worth it. More than worth it. “If i had to hazard a guest i’d say…pediatrics, that looks more like your choice.”

Suga’s eyes widen in surprise and he’s left speechless for a couple of seconds. Daichi knows he’s won. “How did you kow?”

“I didn’t, really.”

“You asked a nurse, admit it!”

“I swear i didn’t! I just guessed, figured you’d do well there. You’re good with patients, i would know-” Daichi also knows he is blushing, can feel the heat spread on his cheeks and neck, “and you have a soothing air about you, i mean, you inspire trust easily…”

All of a sudden Daichi worries he’s saying too much. Too much and too soon, too…chummy and definitely too complimentary. Then Suga puts a hand on his and Daichi’s mind goes blank.

“Thank you, it’s…it’s very sweet, what you just said.”

“It’s only the truth.”

Suga takes a deep breath and sits up straight in his chair, a faint blush colors his cheeks as well. “Listen, Daichi-san…i don’t think, at this point i don’t think i’m reading it wrong-”

“You aren’t!” Daichi says, maybe with a little too enthusiasm because Suga starts, clearly caught off guard, but Daichi’s heart is _singing_ , beating faster than usual for the anticipation.

Suga chuckles, breathy and lovely, and his dimples appear. “Alright then, would you like to go out with me sometimes? After you are discharged, of course!”

“There’s nothing i would like more, Sugawara-sensei.”

*

His mother knows. She knows and she keeps throwing meaningful glances at Daichi whenever Suga is around. She is not being subtle, at all.

Because she is an absolute busybody – very concerned about her dear child’s life, she would say - she’s made it her mission to always be in the room when Suga comes check on him. And of course she doesn’t just sit in silence, that would be too much to even hope for.

“So, Sugawara-sensei, Daichi tells me you plan on becoming a pediatrician. That is just wonderful!”

Suga stops with his hand on Daichi’s side and looks up, unsure. “Um, well yes it’s always been my dream…well actually no when i was in kindergarten my dream job was to be a butterfly, so not _always_ always…”

He is rambling but Daichi and his mom laugh anyway and Suga visibly relaxes, resumes his exam once again. “Your ribs are healing well, Daichi-san. It’ll still take a couple more weeks but the swelling has gone down and your breathing is good.”

It’s so cute how Suga thinks he is going to get away with so little.

Sure enough, Daichi’s mother interrupts him once again. “Why a pediatrician of all things?”

Suga meets Daichi’s eyes, alarmed, but all Daichi can do is shrug and gesture for him to answer. He knows from experience that his mom won’t stop till she has all the information she needs, so they might as well get it over with.

Suga seems to understand it too. “I love children, that’s all. My supervisor in Peds said it might turn into a weakness if i get too attached to all of my patients but we’ll see, we’ll see who has the right of it.”

His smile turns razor sharp for a moment, and his eyes light with a challenge, a purpose. A shiver runs through Daichi’s body.

His mom doesn’t seem to notice. “Children are a joy to have around, for sure. So, _Suga-kun_ , do you want any?”

_This is going too far_ , Daichi thinks in a moment of panick. He glares at his mother, who doesn’t even have the decency to look repentant, just holds his gaze and raises her chin.

Suga is blushing to his ears now and he looks more than a little intimidated by all this interest but answers anyway. “W-well yeah, i mean yes i do want children. I always say i want at least three.”

_That could be arranged_.

Daichi’s brain fills with images of babies with soft, silver hair and wide, beautiful eyes the color of copper. His heart skips a beat or two and he curses himself over and over for being exactly like a character from the fanfictions his little sister reads and always forgets to close when she lets him use her computer. His life is a joke.

For the sake of his sanity he sends his mother to get some juice and as soon as she leaves he turns to Suga to apologize.

Suga doesn’t let him. “It’s alright really. I think it’s sweet, how much she cares. My father gets that way too.”

Daichi seriously doubts Suga’s father would go as far as to ask a stranger if he wants children but well, if he plays his cards right – and he plans to – he might get to find out for himself.

*

Another dream. Slightly different from the others.

There’s that waterfall again, and Suga is bathing beneath it. The sun makes his skin glow, and a single drop falls from the trap of his eyelashes to die on his lips. He looks up and he catches Daichi staring. This, this has never happened before. Daichi makes to apologize, turn his head or run away in shame but before he can do anything at all Suga reaches out to him, his hand outstretched for Daichi to take.

“Wash my back?” He asks and Daichi almost trips on the moss-covered stone in his haste to get to him.

*

“Did i do something wrong?”

Daichi looks up at Suga, confused. “No, of course not.”

“Then why is it that you won’t meet my eyes?”

“I am now…?” Daichi offers but Suga huffs, clearly annoyed by his behavior. He seems a little nervous too, now that Daichi notices, he keeps biting his lip.

“You are being discharged tomorrow.”

“I know.”

“Good, well, if you…if you are having second thoughts about…what i asked you the other day-”

Daichi is a certified moron. He catches Suga’s hand in his and squeezes his fingers, in what he hopes is a reassuring manner. “No, i’m not having second thoughts, i promise.”

_Far from it._

Suga relaxes and comes to sit on Daichi’s bed. He starts playing with Daichi’s fingers too, and it’s intimate, sweet. “Then what is it?”

Daichi was hellbent on denying everything or avoiding giving an explanation as best as he could but Suga’s fingertips are busy tracing the lines on Daichi’s palm and when he looks in Daichi’s eyes Daichi can’t find it in himself to lie. “I was embarrassed, i guess.”

“Embarrassed?”

“Yes i, um, i had a dream last night…it, oh goodness, it involved you ok?”

It takes a few seconds for Suga to fully comprehend the implications in Daichi’s words but when he does his reaction is not at all what Daichi had expected. His cheeks turn pink, yes, but he smirks at Daichi and his eyes take on a mischievous glint. “Really? And what was i doing?”

Daichi almost chokes on…absolutely nothing. Suga had been so shy about asking him out, so awkward with his mom and now he is completely at ease? About this?

Daichi is confused, and surprised, but he would be lying to himself if he said he isn’t more than a little intrigued – read, turned on - as well.

Suga laughs at whatever expression he sees on Daichi’s face. “Come on, Daichi-san, it’s a normal part of life. I’ve had some dreams about you, too.”

This conversation is not doing Daichi’s heart any good. “Y-you have?”

“Why do you sound so surprised? You’re very handsome and, from a purely scientific point of view of course, your pectoral muscles are perfectly developed.”

It’s getting hot in the room, the hospital should check the heating system. “You think so…”

“I do, but we were talking about _your_ dreams here, Daichi-san. As your doctor i need to know everything so i can better offer my…assistance.”

Suga runs a finger on the inside of Daichi’s wrist, right where his pulse point is and Daichi…Daichi is only now starting to realize what it is he’s getting himself into. He starts talking.

“So, i found this waterfall…”

**Author's Note:**

> This could be read as a prequel to 'belongs to gravity'.
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://thewindraiser.tumblr.com/)   
>  [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/JKNo_emi)


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